A DIVINE HARVEST IN HUMAN HEARTS
The choices we
make now will affect and shape our future. Actions do indeed speak louder than
words, and when the two are in synch we call that integrity - this is what God
wants of us, His children.
God wants to change
our hearts so that we will show by our actions that we respect His will and do
it. God offers each of us the greatest treasure possible - unending peace, joy,
happiness, and everlasting life with Him in our heavenly home. However, we can
lose this treasure if we refuse the grace God offers us to follow in His way of
truth, love and righteousness. Jesus encourages us to think and ponder about
the journey we are called to be on with Him. The choices we make now will
affect and shape our future. Actions do indeed speak louder than words, and
when the two are in synch we call that integrity - this is what God wants of
us, His children.
Today's readings
give us a lot of hope for those who truly hear His voice and respond to His
will. The Responsorial Psalm declares, "The Lord hears the cry of the
poor" (Ps 34:7a). God will accept our offerings if we are humble and
lowly, opening our hearts through repentance. There is always hope with our
God. Our challenge is to become poor and lowly too, so we can come to the
reality that our only hope is in God. It is God who will heal our brokenness
and forgive all our sins. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
These fruits are a Divine harvest in human hearts! Here is a great prayer of
hope and comfort written by Deborah Gordon Cooper:
Collecting Light
Across the street
a neighbor strings white lights
along the eaves of his house.
Across the world
they sleep out in the cold,
our neighbors too,
wakened by gunfire.
I see the way the chickadees
take turns at the feeder.
I watch a woman take
her husband's hand.
I see the way the sun will find
the only interruption
in dark clouds,
to toss this amber light
across the pines.
I watch the way a young man
lifts his mother from
the wheelchair
to the car,
the shawl he lays
across her lap.
I save up every scrap
of light,
because I know that it will take
each tiny consolation
every day
to mend the world.